By Milly McEvoy in Birmingham
The top four seeds in the women’s singles all progressed on Day 4 of the YONEX All England to set up a scintillating semi-final showdown.
An Se Young beat Chen Yu Fei in a rematch of the 2023 final, with Young again coming out on top.
Another former champion, AAkane Yamaguchi, progressed to the last four with Wang Zhi Yi and Han Yue of China also making it through.
The tone for an enthralling Friday was set straight away as the top seeds departed in the mixed doubles.
New partners Jiang Zhen Bang and Huang Dong Ping of China defeated Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie of Malaysia with a comeback win.
Goh and Lai had narrowly won the first game before they were blitzed by the fifth seeds in the second.
It was a similar story in the decider as Jiang and Huang triumphed 18-21 21-8 21-10.
The mixed doubles also saw Greg and Jenny Mairs’ careers come to an end after a stellar run to the last eight.
The home hopes were beaten 21-19 21-14 by Korea’s Jong Min Lee and Yu Jung Chae as they ended their careers on a high.
Jenny said: “Today tops it all. To say we have played at the Friday at the All England what a dream come true.
The perfect partnership powering Tan Ning and Liu Sheng Shu
“If you had asked us let alone last year, two weeks ago if we could have achieved that we probably would have said no so I think what a dream ending for us.”
Former champions Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama were gracious victors over Peraly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in the women’s doubles.
The Japanese duo, who won the title in 2022, beat their Malaysian opponents 21-17 21-19 with Tan valiantly playing the quarter-final through injury.
Matsuyama said: “First of all I would like to tell her not to beat herself up! I can really empathise with her that she needed to fight until the very end because I would feel the same.
“To have the opportunity to play at the All England, I can totally understand that she didn’t want to surrender or give up.
“It was really impressive that she fought through until the end. It’s down to her really strong spirit. I’m glad that by playing today she didn’t get a serious injury.”
They were joined in the last four by fellow Japanese duo and former winners Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto as they beat their compatriots Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi in three games.
The established superpower of Japanese women’s singles Akane Yamaguchi showed she is not ready to hand over her crown just yet as she beat compatriot Tomoka Miyazaki 26-24 21-16.
She will next face An Se Young in a rematch of last year’s semi-finals, where Yamaguchi triumphed before retiring in the final.
In the men’s doubles, Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana overcame the eighth seeds Lee Jhe-Huei and Po-Hsuan Yang of Chinese Taipei 21-11 20-22 22-20.
In doing so, it ensured that Maulana remains as the only former champion in the draw.
Also making it through were their fellow Indonesians Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani.
Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae beat Xia Hao Nan and Zeng Wei Han of China in a blistering display to reach the last four.
“It feels like a dream to be playing in the semi-finals of the All England,” he said. “We will do our best preparations for tomorrow’s match.
“What you see today is all from learning from and admiring from Seo. I am the outcome of those things.”
Alex Lanier is the last European standing after he triumphed in the men’s singles, beating Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei 21-19 21-13.
Top seed Shi Yu Qi of China did not have it his own way against Kean Yew Loh but did enough to make it through to the semi-finals without having dropped a game across the championships with a 21-18 21-16 victory.
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